Games of Kings
by Deritine
Summary: Yugi doesn't seem as upset about wishing away his Yami as Jareth thinks he should be. Now being continued! Expect erratic updates, though.
1. Nightmare or Dream Come True?

Games of Kings

Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction. I don't own anything and am making no money. Some things that the goblins and Jareth say are partial quotes from the movie. They are based on my recollections, so are probably not exact.

OOoOOOOoo

"You have made my life miserable! Ever since I solved that stupid puzzle it has been one near-fatal incident after the other and all these battles! I hate fighting!"

"Yugi..." The spirit tried to placate his host, even going so far as to become corporeal in his attempts to calm the teen down.

"No!" Yugi stamped his foot. "I've had enough. I wish..."

"Yugi, please!"

OoOOOoOo

"_Do you think he'll say it?" _

"_Say the right words?"_

"_Oooh, say them!"_

_Red eyes started to glow in the darkness in excited anticipation._

OoOoOoOO

"I wish that... that..." Yugi paused in frustration, before the most ridiculous thought popped into his head. "I wish that goblins would come to take you away!"

OooOO

"_Aw... so close." The red glow dimmed and the impression of ears sagging in depression made soft sounds in the darkness._

OooOOO

"Yugi, it's just a tournament. We'll win easily. It's no big deal. Then we will have all that we need in order to..."

"In order to fulfill _your_ goals. Well, guess what? It's not ancient Egypt anymore and I get to do what I want to do." Yugi crossed his arms over his chest, automatically adjusting for the Millenium Puzzle hanging from his neck. "And what I want right now is for an army of goblins to come take you away. Oh, how I wish that freaking goblins would come take your bony ass away, right now!"

OOOOoo

"_He said it!"Red eyes glowed in the darkness before their owners rushed forward._

OooOOo

Yugi turned around in a huff and stalked out of the room. He kicked the counter of his grandfather's store then yelped. He hopped about on his other foot then shrieked again as a board game fell and almost hit him on the head. "What? Grandfather is always so careful with how he stacks these things." Yugi jumped a bit again when he heard skittering coming from the back of the shop. "Yami? I think there is something in here..." Now that Yugi was no longer so mad, he could feel the traces of some sort of magic pooling in the corners of the room. It wasn't shadow magic, though it was similar. It had a sort of wild, chaotic feel to it. And, paradoxically, it glittered.

"Yami?" Yugi called again, backing into the room where he had left his darker half. "I don't like this..." He instinctively reached out to the other half of his soul... and found nothing. "Yami!" Yugi cried in worry.

OOOOooo

"Hey King! We brought you a present!"

"Another baby?" Jareth asked tiredly. The economy must really be down. This would be the third child tonight.

"No. Most assuredly not."

Jareth's eyes shot open and he sat upright so quickly he almost tumbled off his thrown when his draped leg tangled with the ornate armrest. The Goblin King and the King of Games regarded each other for a solid minute before either of them said anything.

"I do not appreciate this attempt to trap me again. I will not suffer it for a second time. The first was a sacrifice, this is kidnapping." Yami said, his voice deep with disapproval. He crossed his arms across his chest and glared at his counterpart.

"Trap you?" Jareth asked uneasily. He spared a glare at his goblins, whose pride had wilted a bit at their King's unusual reaction. Jareth looked back up at the other, noting the ridiculously spiked, tri-color hair, the black leather, the _buckles_. "You were wished away. That means you belong to me." A little voice in Jareth's head added a fervent _'yesss!'_ and did a little gig. The Goblin King rose smoothly to his feet. "And I certainly _do_ mean to keep you, precious." He purred.

"I belong to no one!" The Pharaoh snapped.

"Well, we shall see. If the one who wished you away wants you back, then he can attempt my Labyrinth to have you returned." Jareth shrugged. Whoever that idiot was, the Goblin King was going to stick him so far at the edge of the Labyrinth that it would take teleportation to get to the castle in 13 hours. This being was a prize- power dripping off of him, dressed in a style Jareth wanted to steal _right now_ and oh so imperious and angry... Jareth had a real problem with the attraction-to-those-that-defy-me thing.

To the Goblin King's surprise, the other stared at him in disbelief before throwing his head back and laughing.

Jareth frowned. Not a common reaction. But then again, he did deal mainly with babies... and the occasional pet.

Yami wiped his eyes as he got himself calmed to a chuckle. "So you are telling me that my aibo has to solve a _puzzle_ and then he can win me back?"

"Ye...s?" Jareth said slowly, not quite sure where this was leading.

"Oh, marvelous. Is there a way I can watch?" Red eyes glinted dangerously.

Jareth almost swooned. But no, he had a job to do. "That is _if_ he decides that he wants to rescue you at all."

The other looked worried for a split second. Jareth smirked- this was a more common reaction.

"Well." The Pharaoh mused. "Though he may be mad enough to make me get myself out of this mess... he has such a soft spot for puzzles. And a puzzle that is a honest-to-Ra magical Labyrinth? Well." Yami mused. "Are there traps? Riddles? Penalties?"

"Dangers untold and hardships unnumbered." Jareth muttered. He was still a bit annoyed by that damn book... hopefully this guy hadn't read it. He looked Japanese. Jareth was pretty sure that it hadn't been translated to that language. Or did he look sort of Middle Eastern? Either way...

"Oh most excellent. Be sure to tell him that part, would you?" The red eyes were now glowing with excitement.

Jareth sighed. As much as he did like his prize, this cocky assumption of power was annoying. It would be nice when the wisher lost and he could wipe that cocky smile off the dark man's face. "I will tell him whatever I feel appropriate." The Goblin King huffed, the feathers of his collar ruffling in annoyance.

OoOoOOoO

"Yami, I'm sorry! You know I didn't mean it. I love playing games, you know that. I just like puzzles more and..." Yugi stopped as the door to the shop started to rattle, bits of glitter seeping under the door. It opened in a flash of lightning and an owl flew through the door as it slammed open. Yugi's hand dropped to his belt and felt for a card, pulling out Kuribo and holding it in front of him.

"We can play a game, but it won't be with cards." The Goblin King smirked down at the short boy, his hair flying dramatically about the glittering dark armor covering his chest.

"I like playing with cards." Yugi replied threateningly.

The Goblin King ignored that confusing statement. "If you want your friend back, you will have to prove yourself."

"What." Yugi said flatly. He was really tired of people saying that to him.

"But first, what do you dream for?" The Goblin King leaned over. "What is your greatest desire? I can give it to you. All you have to do is forget the baby."

"What baby?" Yugi asked in confusion.

The Goblin King froze, his eyebrow twitching. Damnable teen mothers and damnable economic downturn making him work 26 hours straight (so far!) "The babe." Jareth tried to cover, lamely.

"Uh..." Yugi was confused. Had just Yami been kidnapped or was he rescuing someone else here?

"You know, the one in tight black leather, with all those buckles..." Jareth trailed off when he realized what the teen in front of him was wearing. His eyes traveled up and down the other's form before he leaned forward slightly. In fact, he even had the same haircut. "Your twin." Jareth hazarded. He felt a bit out of his depth and wished he had bent a little bit of time for a cat nap before he dealt with this disaster. There would be some Boggings tonight... on the other hand... if he could have _twins_... Jareth's mind short circuited slightly. He may have stood there drooling for a good long while if Yugi hadn't spoken again.

"So... prove myself... how?" Yugi asked suspiciously.

Jareth stood up straight and flicked a crystal into existence to cover his momentary confusion as he pulled out of the pleasant daydream. "Why go through all that. Just forget him. You can have whatever you desire." He threw the globe at the teen, mildly annoyed when it was caught and tossed back to him.

"No. I want him back. What do I have to do?" Yugi sighed. Every freaking time...

"Why, you have to run my Labyrinth."

There was an awkward silence. "That's it?" Yugi asked dubiously.

"Yes." Jareth replied shortly, rather insulted. "It is very dangerous, with many traps and impossible riddles." He remembered too late that the other had requested he tell the boy about that part. The sudden gleam of interest was as troubling as the fact that he had fulfilled someone's request.

"Did you say riddles?" Yugi asked. "Are they... are they from a sphinx?"

"Well. Yes." Jareth couldn't stay that annoyed. The teen's obvious enthusiasm was practically flu-like in its contagiousness.

"_Really!_" Yugi practically squeed. "Can I wish Yami away more than once?"

"No." Jareth resigned himself to a very odd end to the evening.

"Can I wish away other people?"

Jareth sighed. "Maybe you should just run the Labyrinth before you wish anyone else away?"

"Yes, absolutely!" Yugi jumped up and down excitedly. "When do we start?"

"Right now." Jareth smirked, making a sweeping gesture with his arm. Yugi turned around and the Goblin King smirked at the obvious awe the boy had at the sight of the Goblin City off in the distance. It was nice that at least _something_ was going to go as expected this evening.

"This..."

Jareth quirked an eyebrow and waited for the inevitable exclamation of despair.

"This is... the best puzzle I have ever seen!" Yugi gushed. He turned around and attempted to glomp Jareth, who hurriedly sidestepped the overenthusiastic teen.

While the Goblin King couldn't help but be pleased at the blatant admiration of his kingdom, and the completely unusual reaction, he couldn't help the spark of anger at the lack of proper respect. "Few have braved the Labyrinth an survived." Jareth huffed.

"Mmhm." Yugi was craning his neck, trying to see over the walls.

"You must make it to the center of the Labyrinth, the Goblin Castle, within 13 hours." Jareth gestured and the 13 faced clock appeared behind him. It looked at bit raggedy itself, having rewound the evening more than once already.

"Ok." Yugi nodded, accepting the turns. "This will be a piece of cake!" He said cockily, cracking his fingers.

Jareth felt a muscle in his eye start to twitch involuntarily.

OoOOoOoOo

A/N: An idea I suddenly had for a fun crossover. May continue it at some point, but where I would go with it is pretty obvious, I feel. I would only write farther for pure humor, rather than twisty plot. Well... it would probably evolve/breed a plot as I went, knowing my luck. But not on _purpose_.


	2. Riddles Open Doors

"Well." Yugi rubbed his hands together in glee once the sparkly man had left. "To the entrance!" It was pretty simple to get to the wall, but no gates were readily apparent. Though by 'readily apparent' Yugi was ignoring the ones he could sense hidden with his Shadow Magic. Fortunately, he was able to play the first game by finding an odd looking monster as tall as his chest hauling a fish trap out of the small pond, full of squirming, tiny blue women baring their teeth at him. "Hello good sir!" Yugi said cheerfully.

"Who are you, then?" The amanojaku asked.

Yugi ignored the query. No way he was giving an oni that kind of control over him by just saying his name. "Which entrance is the most difficult?" He asked instead.

The amanojaku's eyebrows shot up. "Now that is an interesting question."

"And the answer is?" Yugi prompted.

The oni shrugged. "The sphynx's entrance is definitely hardest."

"And how do I get to that one?" Yugi asked eagery.

"You are an odd one." The amaojaku chuckled. "Right over here." He waved and the illusion on the door dropped.

"My thanks, amanojaku." Yugi bowed.

"Well. Polite, too." He huffed. "But the name is Hogwart."

"Of course, amanojaku-san." Yugi agreed, humoring the little monster. That was obviously a fake name. Honestly- wasn't that some building in the British book of magic that everyone liked? The one with wands instead of cards. "It has been good to speak with you."

Yugi pulled open the door and slipped inside. In front of him was a large, glorious sphynx. Though female where he was more used to males, she was _fantastic_. More 'natural' than the monsters in the Shadow Realm and lacking armor, but she did not need it. She flexed her claws against the stone floor, giving off multi-colored sparks. Her wings mantled to briefly hide the corridor stretching behind her.

"Human. You must have insulted the dwarf to end up here." She hissed.

"Oh, no." Yugi breathed. "I asked for this."

The sphynx huffed out a surprised breath. "You are an odd one. Are you ready for your question?"

"Oh, yes." Yugi replied eagerly.

"Alright- Brothers and sisters I have none but this man's father is my father's son. Who is the man?"

"Hmm." Yugi tapped his chin. "Ah- his son!"

"Correct. You may pass."

"What... that's it?" Yugi pouted. "Come on, one more!"

"Um... alright." The sphinx flicked her wings uncertainly. "What is greater than Zeus, more evil than the the most wretched demon, the poor have it, the rich need it, and if you eat it, you'll die?"

"Are you defining 'Zeus' as the father of the gods, and thus the most powerful being?" Yugi clarified.

"Indeed." She sniffed, flexing her claws. "Don't insult me."

"Oh, I would never dream of it. You are the most gorgeous thing I have ever laid eyes on." Yugi replied earnestly.

She huffed but looked pleased, turning to preen a feather. Which Yugi watched in rapt fascination as she had human teeth... how was that working?

"Well, if you don't have the answer, I'm afraid I will have to eat you. Normally it is just one riddle, but you asked for this one, so the forfeit is the same."

"Oh, I have the answer." Yugi smiled. "Nothing."

The sphinx smiled. "Correct." She began to move to the side.

"Wait, wait! I have one for you."

"Hmm." The massive creature cocked her head to the side. "If you imagine I have nothing better to do with my time than trade riddles with you, human..." She trailed off menacingly, growling.

Yugi pouted. "It's a really good one."

The sphinx threw back her head and roared, startling Yugi, until he realized it was a laugh. "Human, you amuse me. And, I actually do NOT have anything else to do. It is rare that a human ends up with me as the entrance. I get so bored waiting. And then they usually just stand there muttering to themselves until they come up with some terrible answer and I have to eat them." She sighed gustily, almost making Yugi topple over. "And they _never_ taste very good."

"Ok!" Yugi smiled eagerly. "If you look you cannot see me. And if you see me you cannot see anything else. I can make anything you want happen, but later everything goes back to normal. What am I?"

"Ooh, nice one." The sphinx grinned. "Imagination. Very appropriate for this place. I see that you are on a level higher. How about this one? I will grant you a boon if you answer it."

"Sure!" Yugi grinned.

"There was this competition where the contestants had to hold 'something'. At the end of the event, the winner was a person who was physically disabled (he had no hands nor any feet)! What was that 'something'?"

"Oh!" Yugi danced. "Breath!"

"Correct." The sphinx purred. "I shall take you to the castle."

"Oh." Yugi said unhappily. "But aren't there more puzzles in here?"

"For certain." The sphinx nodded. "But it is easy enough to get to the castle with the correct questions. I have no doubt you will get there."

"Well, I don't doubt it, either, really." Yugi sighed. "I guess it is best to rescue the captive first, instead of gambling on his life." Yugi said dubiously. It was harder to be so worried since a) he could now sense his aibo again and b) puzzles!

"Tell you what. I'll bring you to a door puzzle. You can solve that one, and take a bit longer to get to the castle." The sphinx compromised.

"Alright!" Yugi cheered.

OoooOOooOOo

"I'm starting to get a really bad feeling for some reason." Jareth muttered.

"I propose it is because you realize how terrible your dancing is." Yami drawled.

Jareth gasped. "What did you just say?"

"Your. Dancing. Is. Terrible." Yami said slowly.

Red fire started to glow from behind Jareth's pupils. His hair puffed up indignantly.

"Do you want to play, then, Jareth? King of Goblins?" Yami said silkily, his own eyes glittering yellow as the ghost of a third eye nestled just below his extravagant hairline.

"My dancing is fantastic."

"I'm sure the idiot goblins tell you so." Yami said patronizingly.

Jareth began to clack his teeth together ans sway his head.

"And now you just look silly." Yami scoffed. "What the!" He nearly toppled over to avoid a face full of enraged owl. "That's not fair! Where are the rules to this game!" Yami laughed, ducking as the owl dive bombed him.

"Telling the rules would be giving away!" Squeaked a goblin, safely perched on a shelf and watching the chaos gleefully. "Finding rules is solving puzzle!"

"You Northerners are so odd. Truly magical puzzles have declined since their height in mighty Egypt." Yami sniffed. And ducked again to avoid irate, feathered death. "You are more fun to tease than my aibo!" Yami cackled.

OooOOOooooOO

"Oho! Two doors. This is _classic_." Yugi cheered. Four heads looked up at him from behind the two shields on the respective doors- one blue, one red.

"Indeed." The sphinx nodded. "Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off at the castle?"

"And miss this? No way."

"As you wish. If you get sent back to the beginning, feel free to come by. But you will need to answer more riddles."

"Naturally." Yugi nodded. He waved as she took off, covering his eyes to protect them from all the glitter that got kicked up. He sensed a shifting of the shadows and turned to see the doors gone. "Aw. That's not fair!" He whined. He _really_ wanted those doors. Besides, he could sense a short cut to the next area quite close. Where would be the challenge in that. Although, at his words, it had seemed to activated something in the glittery darkness. "Hmm." He mused. He looked away again and then back. "Aha!" A special pass code- interesting. To teach a lesson, maybe?

"Hello. One of us tells the truth, the other lies." A blue head said.

"Yes, and one of us leads to the castle. The other to _certain doooom_."

"Well, that's odd, isn't it. You've already made a statement. But if you are the door that tells lies, you couldn't have said that one tells lies and the other truths. That would be the truth. So if you are a door that tells lies, then you both must tell lies."

The doors' mouths all snapped shut.

"Uh." A red one looked to the side. "Is that right?"

"It's only for the riddle that that is true! We have to give the rules, don't we?" The other red one replied.

"Well, I don't know. I've never really understood it myself." The top blue scratched his head.

"Also, there are two of you each, so really it would be 'one pair of us' or 'one color of us' or something of that sort, rather than 'one of us'." Yugi continued.

"He's hurting my head." The bottom red one complained.

"I think he's right, though- we're not doing it right." The top blue said worriedly. "That girl got the wrong answer, didn't she? But she asked the right question."

"There are three questions, at least, that could lead to solving this riddle. You could ask what the other would say, ask what a known object is, or ask if both of you would have the same answer. And those I only came up with from the top of my head."

All four stared at him. "I vote for him taking over door duty." The top red said flatly.

"Amen." Both blue added.

"Truth is, being fairy creatures, we can't lie, only misdirect." The bottom blue confessed.

"Excepting that we can lie, cause we said we would, for the purposes of the riddle." The top red clarified.

"I think that's got it right, don't it?" The bottom red asked.

"And anyway, none of those questions is how to avoid certain death." The bottom blue said sagely.

"Ah, you're right, you are!" Top blue agreed.

"Oh, really?" Yugi was intrigued. So it wasn't the classic riddle at all. "How would you all say that I do to avoid certain death?"

"Wait, wait! We haven't started yet!" The top red complained.

"But that's the right question, isn't it?" Bottom red argued.

"But he didn't ask a specific one, and anyway, I forget which I'm supposed to be."

"I'm leaving." The top blue grumbled. "We don't get paid enough for this."

"You get paid?" The top red asking, incised.

"Well, no." The top blue dropped the shield, stepping down and straightening, revealing a lanky creature with two heads.

"Ah, I see." Yugi nodded.

"Well, I'm glad someone does." The left blue head grumbled. "Anyway, the trick is to jump- there's an oubliette right past the entrance. The doors open to the same place. Our houses are right past. Would you like to come in for some tea?"

"Oh? What kind of tea?" Yugi asked, intrigued.

"Poison tea!" The top red shrieked. "Since he's a _traitor._"

Blue pulled the door open and hopped over the illusioned hole in the ground. "I have Earl Grey, Lady Grey and a nice green."

"Ooh!" Yugi followed. "That sounds lovely. I'm a bit parched." He paused. "If I eat here, I won't get stuck here for a decade or some other trick, will I?"

The right blue head grinned at him.

"Right then. Well... I had better pass, sorry. Maybe some other time, when I have Reverse Time activated. But I want to solve this labyrinth correctly." Yugi declined sadly.

Blue looked intrigued. "Sure thing. The sphinx can get you back here. Or just go back to that section and say the proper phrase."

"Thank you, Blue-san." Yugi bowed.

"My pleasure." The two heads chorused.

OoOooooOoOOOOOOOO

A/N: Lots of people have been requesting a continuation. It is a fun story, so I thought- why not? I was thinking maybe of doing it non-sequential, but that would get really confusing. I had to watch Labyrinth again and do some research on puzzles and Yu Gi Oh cards. /s Not fun at all. /sarcasm off

:D Any ideas, feel free to give them to me! I got a lot of inspiration from reviewers. You all rock!


End file.
